


Misery Loves Company

by kiboutozetsubou



Series: Tumblr Ficlets [1]
Category: Persona 4
Genre: M/M, also i know nothing about weddings in churches, and general assholery, sorry for adachi's misogyny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-06
Updated: 2016-01-06
Packaged: 2018-05-12 07:14:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5657431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiboutozetsubou/pseuds/kiboutozetsubou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tohru Adachi really did not want to be at this wedding.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Misery Loves Company

**Author's Note:**

> oook so im posting my ficlets here from tumblr that i write in response to ask memes, even tho they all kinda suck lol. the prompt for this one was the characters miserable at a wedding together

Tohru Adachi really did not want to be at this wedding. He hardly even knew the bride or the groom. To be completely honest, he only got to know the bride at all because she was smoking hot and he thought he might have a chance with her. So you can imagine his despair when he found out she was getting married.

He really didn’t know why he bothered to come at all. He could’ve made up an excuse. But she asked him in person, and he was so taken aback by the knowledge that she was even taken that he couldn’t come up with any suitable lie.

_Whatever, it’s free booze, right?_ And at least Dojima was also going to be there. He knew this even before asking, because he was a relative of the bride, and hence the reason why Adachi met her in the first place. _Thanks for not mentioning she was just a typical whore like all the others, Dojima-san…_

He brooded over this on the drive over. His mood worsened when he saw it was being held in a church. _What a load of shit._

Forcing himself to just think of the free booze he’d be able to have once the ceremony was over, he went inside. He didn’t know anyone so he made a beeline for his seat, avoiding everyone’s gazes as he swept past them.

He was a little surprised to see that he was seated next to Dojima. He was about to greet him when he was struck suddenly by the completely somber look on Dojima’s face. It’s not like the guy was regularly over joyous, but they were at a wedding after all. Dojima was probably the kind of person to get happy for those sorts of occasions.

“Dojima-san,” he tried tentatively.

Dojima looked over him, evidently just noticing his presence, despite the fact that they were sitting next to one another. His face gave no indication that he recognized Adachi or that he was in any way pleased to see him. “Adachi,” he said curtly. It was less of a greeting and more of a statement of fact.

Adachi let a little nervous laugh slip out, the kind that he normally uttered to cover up his annoyance, but this time he really did feel a bit awkward. “Excited for the wedding, sir?” _I know I’m not, but there’s no reason you shouldn’t be. Family man, right Dojima-san?_

Thinking those words triggered a sort of washed-out memory, something he didn’t normally tend or like to think about. Dojima shrugged. “Of course,” he said, without any feeling behind it. “I’m just tired. There’s a lot of work to be done still, wrapping up for that last case. Did you finish the paperwork?”

His words didn’t quite register to Adachi, who was now mulling over the memory his own thoughts had sparked. Dojima had been married, hadn’t he? Nanako’s mother… she had passed away. Of course, there’s no way he could’ve forgotten something so important, something that Dojima only brought up to him once after a night of heavy drinking, when his expression was so alarmingly empty and… well, a lot like the face he was seeing now.

Adachi wondered, a bit absently, if the reason this expression on Dojima was so uncomfortable to him was that it reminded him of himself, how he really felt, most of the time.

“Dojima-san,” he said, carefully, instead of answering his question. Dojima looked at him, a bit warily, his eyebrows pinched together, obvious a bit irritated that Adachi hadn’t acknowledged his question.

_Suck it up,_ part of him was thinking. _So what your wife died? People die, people always die. There’s always going to be more shit in the world than things that are actually worthwhile. You’re as old as you are and you don’t know this yet?_

The truly dangerous thing was that while he knew this was his automatic reaction, he didn’t feel as though he _meant_ it.

“I guess it’s still kind of hard for you, huh?” His voice came out much gentler than he ever really thought possible. Of course he was going to say something pseudo-comforting anyway, but he was a bit startled to realize he was sincere.

As gruff as he was, Dojima didn’t quite bristle at the words, as Adachi would’ve expected him to. Would have _wanted_ him to, even.

“I’m not that obvious, am I?” Dojima asked, sounding a bit tired. “I wouldn’t wanna ruin an occasion like this because of my own damn selfishness.”

_What’s there to ruin? It’s a fucking caricature, a joke. People pretending to love each other, pretending to always care about each other when we all know they’ll either divorce or kill each other in the end. What a riot._

“Don’t worry about it, Dojima-san,” Adachi responded, expelling these darker thoughts into the corner of his mind, as he always did. “Nobody else can tell. They’re just gonna assume you’re being a grumpy old man like always.”

“Shut up, Adachi,” came the quip, almost automatic. There was a smile quirking at the corner of Dojima’s mouth. Adachi felt a mixture of relief and apprehension deep in his gut at the sight of it.

“If it helps at all, I’m not too happy to be here either,” Adachi blurted. He really didn’t know why he was saying this. He really did want Dojima to feel better.

“Why not?”

Nearly everyone had filed into the church by this point. The ceremony was probably going to start any minute now. The groom stood at the front, nervously adjusting his suit, smiling and talking with the priest. Adachi felt a wave of revulsion at the innocent display.

“I thought I might’ve had a chance with the bride,” he admitted, turning away and leveling a crooked smile at Dojima.

Dojima actually chuckled a bit at that. “Ah, well… don’t worry about that. You’re still young, there’ll be a lot of other opportunities for that.” He glanced over at Adachi, his eyes roving up and down. “Especially if you dress nice like this more often instead of the sloppy way you usually dress. What kind of decent girl wants to go out with that?”

Part of Adachi wanted to rise at the jab, point out that Dojima didn’t really care about his own attire at work that much either. But another part felt a fuzzy wave of embarrassment that Dojima had, in a weird roundabout way, complimented his appearance. He opened his mouth but no reply would come.

Then that stupid, cheesy music started to sound throughout the church, and the ceremony was starting, so he didn’t have to come up with a response. He turned away from Dojima, who now looked a bit more somber again, his attention being drawn back to the wedding and the painful memories it evoked in him.

He stared at the bride and groom, feeling pitiful contempt toward them and himself. It was a sham, it made him sick, it really did.

But… it could’ve been worse. Dojima was here with him, even if he wasn’t the best company right now. But in a way, as much as he really did actually _feel bad_ for Dojima, another part was glad that, at least, he wasn’t the only miserable fuck at this thing.

This way, they could make it through, at least.


End file.
